Rastrillo (Period)
A rastrillo is a charge from Spanish armory, of uncertain origin. It has been described variously as a form of portcullis and as the head of a rake. It is certainly a period charge, found in the arms of Sarasa, mid-16th C [Armeria 285].
Isabella Benalcázar bears as a badge: A rastrillo azure.
Quintain (Accepted)
A quintain is a target for tilting practice, consisting of a post with a pivoted crosspiece, armed with a wooden shield, and often a sandbag for counterbalance. The rider would attempt to strike the quintain with his lance as he rode by; missing the shield would leave it in the rider’s path, but striking at too slow a speed would cause the sandbag to clout the rider as it swung around! Though a period artifact, the quintain does not appear in period armory; the illustration is taken from a 14th Century psalter [Barber & Barker, Tournaments, p.27].
Lorenzo Quintain bears: Argent, a quintain armed to dexter with a sword bendwise and to sinister with a shield, gules.
Philip Rufus Kennard bears: Erminois, a quintain gules and a base nebuly vert.
Paw print (SFPP)
Prints are the impressions made by either animal or human feet; they are more fully termed “pawprints” or “hoofprints” (or, for human feet, “footprints”). A single example of hoofprints has been found in modern German armory, in the civic arms of Gars, in Bavaria [Neubecker & Rentzmann, 10000 Wappen von Staaten und Städten, p.394]; prints are thus accepted for Society use, though they are considered a step from period practice.
While the type of animal is often blazoned, no heraldic difference is granted between various prints. They are shown with the toe-marks to chief by Society default, as in the illustration. For related charges, see sole.
Esther of Darkhaven bears: Per fess sable and argent, in bend nine wolf-paw prints counterchanged five and four, in sinister chief a plate.
Artemas Maximus bears: Or, a bear’s paw print gules.
Felix MacAvady bears: Or, seven cat’s paw prints two, three and two sable.
Willelm le Pied bears: Per bend sinister sable and azure, a footprint argent.
Watt Kidman bears: Or, three goat’s hoofprints inverted Or.
Printer’s ball (Accepted)
A printer’s ball is a tool for applying ink to the plate of a printing press. It is a period artifact, dating to at least 1568 [Amman 27], but the earliest example we have of its armorial use is 1657 [Volborth 189]. The printer’s ball has its handle to chief by Society default.
Bertram of Bearington bears: Gules, a printer’s ball argent inked sable.
Leonhard Schuwert bears: Per chevron azure and Or, two printer’s balls in saltire azure inked sable each sustained by a hand azure.
Fredeburg von Katzenellenbogen bears as a badge: A printer’s ball Or.
Porte-arnois (Period)
A porte-arnois (OF “carry harness”) is a portable armor stand, for use on campaign or in the field. The illustration is taken from de Bara’s Blason des Armoiries, 1581 [154], where the porte-arnois is attributed to the arms of Judith.
Rowen Killian bears as a badge: A porte-arnois sable.
Portcullis (Period)
A portcullis is a heavy metal grille, used to bar the gateway of a castle. It’s a period charge, found in the arms of Fyschcok, c.1480 [RH], but more famous as the badge of Beaufort, 1449, from whom the Tudor kings inherited it [Parker 473; HB 143, 111].
In period, English emblazons showed the portcullis with its chains on either side, hanging to base (as in the illustration); these need not be blazoned. There are some examples in Continental heraldry of chainless portcullises, such as the arms of Hessen zu Wigdorf, 1605 [Siebmacher 136]; chainless portcullises in Society armory should be explicitly blazoned.
For related charges, see gate, rastrillo. See also door, drawbridge, gridiron, strike.
Ernst of the Gate bears: Per pale Or and sable, a portcullis gules.
Alexis Sinclaire bears: Sable, three portcullises Or.
Almarr of Odder bears: Azure, three portcullises argent.
Icosahedron (SFPP)
A polyhedron is a geometric solid figure with polygonal faces. While there are some heraldic charges which might be described in this way – e.g., the die – the term here refers specifically to abstract geometric shapes, not otherwise defined, and which don’t appear to represent actual medieval objects. No examples of abstract polyhedra have been adduced in period armory; their use in Society armory is justified by the Renaissance knowledge of the Platonic solids, and the registrations to date have been drawn as such. The use of a polyhedron is deemed a step from period practice.
The illustration shows an icosahedron, or twenty-sided Platonic solid. For related charges, see polygon. See also jewelry.
Alasdair O Cuinn bears: Per chevron Or and vert, two dragons combattant and an icosahedron counterchanged.
Triangle (Period)
Octagon (Period)
A polygon is a closed geometric plane figure with straight sides. While there are some simple heraldic charges which might be described in this way – e.g., the billet and the delf – the term here refers specifically to abstract geometric shapes, not otherwise defined, and which don’t appear to represent actual objects. Of these, the most commonly found in period European armory is the “triangle”, seen in the allusive arms (Italian canto, “angle, corner”) of de Cantono, mid-15th C. [Triv 91].
The only other polygon found in period European armory (as of this writing) is the “octagon”: this appears to be unique to a single coat, the arms of Haller, mid-16th C. [NW 165]. Society armory also has examples of the “pentagon” and the “hexagon”. The pentagon and hexagon, while registerable, are deemed a step from period practice.
Pentagon (SFPP); hexagon (SFPP)
Polygons are normally drawn as regular polygons (i.e., equilateral and equiangular), though triangles are also found in isosceles forms. Most polygons have a point to chief by Society default; the exception is the octagon, which rests on a flat side and thus has a flat side to chief.
For related charges, see lozenge, polyhedron, star of David, valknut. See also jewelry.
Hraði inn rakki bears: Quarterly sable and gules, in bend sinister two triangles inverted Or.
Georg Eisenfaust bears: Per fess argent and sable, in chief a clenched gauntlet and in base three octagons two and one counterchanged.
Ottavio Corsi bears as a badge: Sable, a hexagon voided within another argent.
Uto von den Sümpfen bears: Sable, a pentagon gules fimbriated Or.
Plummet (Period)
A plummet is a lead weight, which was hung by a cord; it was used by builders to find the local vertical, or by plumbers to find the bottom of a drain (it’s sometimes blazoned a “sounding lead” for that reason). It’s a period charge, found in the arms of Jennyns, c.1510 [DBA2 401], and of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers, 1588 [Bromley & Child 204].
John Blacas bears: Per chevron sable and gules, two fleurs-de-lys and a pair of compasses with a plummet dependent from its pivot, a bordure embattled Or.
Káta in bareyska bears as a badge: A plummet dependent from a cord couped purpure.
The unmodified term “pipe” was used in period blazons to refer to any of several wind instruments (e.g., the flute or the recorder). As there are other types of pipe in Society armory, the unmodified term should not be used. For specific entries, see: bagpipe, organ pipe, panpipe, smoking pipe.